Maurizio Sarri's first game in the Atalanta dugout ended without a goal, and by full time it was the visitors from Tel Aviv doing most of the celebrating. Hapoel Tel Aviv held out for a 0-0 draw at Bergamo's New Balance Arena in the first leg of their UEFA Conference League play-off, and afterwards one of Atalanta's own players admitted the Israeli side had not played the match Bergamo expected.
"We thought they would come press us hard, but instead they covered a lot of space, and when we approached their penalty area they were very closed," Atalanta wing-back Lorenzo Bernasconi said, quoted by ONE. Rather than pressing high, Hapoel dropped into a deep, compact block and dared Atalanta to break them down.
It worked. Atalanta piled forward for long stretches, but the final product wasn't there. Bernasconi pointed to something beyond tactics too: "They are ahead of us physically too, having already played many matches." Hapoel arrived in Bergamo with a head start in match sharpness, several rounds into their Israeli league campaign while Sarri's side was still finding its feet in preseason.
The numbers back up Bernasconi's read of the game. Atalanta controlled 63 percent of possession and completed 705 passes to Hapoel's 421, pushing into the final third 69 times to Hapoel's 32. Yet Hapoel cleared their lines 23 times, won 69 percent of their tackles and were just as dominant in the air, winning 69 percent of aerial duels.
Atalanta's best chances came either side of the half-hour mark. Nicola Zalewski fired narrowly wide in the 19th minute, and five minutes later goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi was called into a smart save to deny Bernard Boateng from close range. Neither side could find a breakthrough after that, and Atalanta also had to absorb a blow to their squad depth when centre-back Giorgio Scalvini went off injured during the match.
For Hapoel, a scoreless away draw against a Serie A club in a new manager's first competitive test is a solid platform to carry into the second leg. The tie now shifts to Hapoel's temporary European home at DVTK Stadium in Miskolc, Hungary, where the Israeli club has been hosting its continental fixtures this campaign, with the return leg set for a week later.
Bernasconi's comments suggest Atalanta will need to be more direct and more clinical if they are to avoid an upset against a side that, by his own admission, matched them physically and defended with far more discipline than Bergamo had bargained for.
